Citizen Skyhawk - Citizen Watch

Sporting a rotating slide rule bezel, the Citizen Skyhawk A-T stainless steel men's flight watch offers advanced timing functions and the latest technology. It's powered by Citizen's unique Eco-Drive, which absorbs sunlight and any artificial light through the crystal and dial to recharge the watch continuously. The fast-forward timekeeping features include time and calendar in 43 cities, thirty cities, three world time alarms, a 99-minute countdown timer, one-touch interchangeable analog/digital time, and 1/100-second chronograph that measures up to 24 hours.

The large round silver stainless steel case measures 48mm (1.89 inches) wide and 16mm (0.63 inches) deep. The black dial background features large white hands with luminous tips as well as luminous square dial markers. It's completed by a stylish multi-link stainless steel braclet band. Other features include water resistance to 200 meters (660 feet)--which will stand up to the rigors of recreational scuba diving.

Summary of Features:

• Atomic timekeeping with radio-controlled accuracy
• World time in 43 cities
• 2 alarms
• 1/100 second chronograph that measures up to 24 hours
• 99 minute countdown timer
• Perpetual calendar
• Digital display light
• Greenwich Mean Time display
• Rotating slide-rule bezel
• Non-reflective mineral crystal
• Power-reserve indicator

This watch is attractive, but be warned. The crystal is domed and soft and, therefore, prone to scratching. The face soon becomes obscured in normal wear. Also, the bezel's paint will wear away. Replacing the two components will cost over $130. This then becomes a disposable watch at a high price.

I found out the hard way. I would not buy this watch again.

This is a beautiful and multifunctional watch. It is also about as easy to operate as the space shuttle. I am generally a pretty handy guy, but the instructions for this watch read like old VCR instructions. It set the time automatically when I first received it as a wedding present a month ago, but has not done so since. You cannot manually set the time like you can with any other watch by simply pulling out the crown, there is a long procedure to do it. Even the jeweler where I bought it (who owns a similar eco drive) took 30 minutes to fix the time after I reset the time for my honeymoon to Mexico. Now, it won't "automatically reset" after daylight savings, even though it was set to do so.

Not worth it, don't buy it.

Upon receiving the box, I was surprised how well packed the parcel is to prevent any accidental damages. The watch didn't look as large as the dimensions made it out to be, in part due to the dual tones of the watch and the tapering of the case that wraps a well sized wrist nicely. On first looks, it is a very busy looking watch with tonnes of complications on the face, however, when broken down to their individual components, it actually is well organized that allows easy reading. The finish and materials of the watch is very good and can rival similar designed steel watches from luxury brands. There are many functions to the watch and if the manual is not well read by the owner, it may limit what the owner may enjoy from the watch as the watch settings are complicated (even for something as simple as setting the time). Overall, a very good looking watch that stands out due to its rarity.

Some bad points to the watch is the use of mineral glass that is not as resistant to scratches and the convex nature of the glass those encourage scratches to be more prominent at it's centre and magnified to its sides. Secondly, all functions are chosen with the crown and if the crown is not durable enough, it may be damaged due to excessive wear and tear from changing functions. Thirdly, the luminescent chemical does not last as long in the dark.

Personally, all the bad points are easily over-shadowed by the other benefits and features of the watch, hence I strongly recommend this watch to individuals who use E6B calculators and world time or those who simply like watches that provide practical complications on watches.

UPDATE; 8-28-08, PRODUCT RECALL WITH SERIAL NUMBERS BEGINNING IN 7 !!!
I originally bought my Skyhawk from Kay Jewelers at my local mall and I recently got a letter from them advising me of a product recall for Skyhawk watch model# JY0000-53E with serial numbers beginning with seven. Apparently there is a software issue with the watch that causes the wrong date to display when the year 2010 is reached. Citizen claims that when the date 1 March 2010 is reached, it will display 29 Febraury 2010. Only the date is the error with the watch & no other functions will be affected. If your Skyhawk JY0000-53E has a serial number with a "dot" preceding the seven than your watch is unaffected. I have sent my watch back to Citizen via Kay Jewelers and I got my watch back within two weeks. So be advised if you have a Skyhawk JY0000-53E with a serial number that begins with a seven!


I've been looking at the Citizen Skyhawks for the past few months and I finally bought one. I have always been using cheap watches all of my life, but lately I bought a nice Citizen Echo-drive ladies watch for my wife and she insisted that I upgrade as well. The Skyhawk A-T model JY0000-53E is a third generation Skyhawk with a radio reception transmitter that broadcasts up to three signals a day to correct the atomic time automatically or you can simply correct the time via an on-demand button that will correct the time instantly.

One feature that I noticed that was lacking in previous Skyhawk models is the lack of the back-light for the LCD, but the new Skyhawk has an amber back-light for the LCD which appears to be a dim reddish-orange light. You can reference my photos above that shows the back light. In darkness the hands and number marks have a light illuminous glow. The watch is very heavy and it will take me some time to get use to it, but it is so attractive that I sometimes forget about the weight. I highly recommend that you try one on before buying. Actually, after a few days my wrist got accustomed to the weight of the watch.

Sometimes I almost regret buying the older titanium versions because of the lighter weight, but I really like this newer despite heavier version. One thing I heard about the titanium version that discouraged me from buying it is that when the titanium surface (which has a dull grey appearance) gets scratched, the scratch shows as a very, shiny, metallic streak that is very visible and probably permanent. When you scratch a stainless bracelet, a jeweler shop can re-polish it.

I agree with the other reviewer about the over-use of the crown button to perform most of the settings. I just hope that crown button holds up. This is a nice, newer version of the Skyhawk watch line that is very nice to have if you can tolerate the weight.

I've owned this watch for over a year now. It's my second citizen watch (along with a dress watch) and overall, I am extremely happy with the brand and the quality. The watch looks excellent and I have received numerous compliments while wearing it.

I do have a couple of gripes that do not necessarily dis-satisfy me that much but I wanted to present them here should anyone from citizen gaze at these reviews.

Issues:
- The instructions are SEVERELY limiting. For a watch this complex, it would have been nice if citizen spent a little more time making the instructions more readable and user friendly. As another poster mentioned, they read like old VCR instructions.

- The daylight savings time feature has a delay that actually gives you one full day of incorrect time before it catches up with itself. Even attempting to do a manual reset does nothing.

- The controls could have been more usable. I think a lot of the watches functions are unnecessarily complex.

- My watch seems to lack a few city names that are listed in the instructions. I read on a few websites that there is a known software glitch and you can mail in the watch to get the software updated. Being that the missing cities don't directly affect me adversely, I didn't bother.

Overall, the watch is excellent quality with looks to match.

Featuring light-powered Eco-Drive technology, the ultra-sporty Skyhawk AT watch #JY0005-50E from Citizen offers sleek, athletic-inspired styling with an eco-friendly design. This versatile watch boasts digital quartz movement for reliability, atomic timekeeping with radio-controlled accuracy, and 1/100 second chronograph and 24 hour recorder. World time for 43 cities, two alarms, perpetual calendar, and a 99 minute countdown also keep your day, or workout, on-track. Polished silver-tone hands markers with luminous accents add a sleek look, while a brushed stainless steel black ion plated slide rule bezel imparts professional polish. Water resistant to 200 meters (660 feet), the Skyhawk is made to withstand the elements and still look great, year after year.

Summary of Features:

• Atomic timekeeping with radio-controlled accuracy
• World time in 43 cities
• 2 alarms
• 1/100 second chronograph that measures up to 24 hours
• 99 minute countdown timer
• Perpetual calendar
• Digital display light
• Greenwich Mean Time display
• Rotating slide-rule bezel
• Non-reflective mineral crystal
• Power-reserve indicator

I purchased this watch back in November. When I first received it, I was surprised with its weight when compared to the Casio Pathfinder Titanium that I also own. However, I've grown accustomed to the mass, and have been impressed by the durability of the black ion coating. My titanium watch is covered with scratches, and the Skyhawk's black coating hasn't received a single mark.

Agree with others - that this should be offered with a sapphire crystal, and this costs one star in my review. A retrofit is available from Citizen, with the part costing $45, so you would think that Citizen consider the marketing impact of not offering a sapphire crystal given that we are talking about a $500 watch here.

Sending the watch to Citizen costs approximately $100 for a crystal replacement (for crystal, a couple of bezel parts that have to be exchanged, and labor), and you have to be without your watch for a few weeks. Don't get me wrong - I'm glad that Citizen offers the service. Just wondering what the incremental cost of the sapphire crystal is when compared to mineral. If it were actually only $25 more for the sapphire (say $45 for sapphire and $20 for mineral glass), then you would think that they'd want to do away with all the hits they have in reviews by installing it in production. Many have dinged the Skyhawk A-T citing the ease with which the mineral crystal is scratched. It does protrude from the front face quite a bit, and seems very vulnerable. I protected mine with invisishield, but anticipate sending mine in for a sapphire crystal.

Second negative is that I wish Citizen would incorporate the U680 movement of the japanese market watch into the US version. I removed a second star for this oversight. It's really is annoying not being able to display the date in your current time zone. Citizen has fixed this in Japan, and it seems strange that they wouldn't want to address this for US market watches as well.

Comparing the functionality of my Casio to the Skyhawk, there are a few things that I miss - which causes to me to use both watches nearly equally. First is the apparent greater sensitivity of the WWV receiver in the Casio. Many nights my Casio receives an update when the Citizen does not. This when they are sitting side by side on our counter.

I wish that the Citizen had the hourly beeper function of the Casio. This helps me keep on time for appointments, and is a feature that I miss when using the Citizen.

Overall, I would still purchase the watch because the combination of functionality (solar, atomic sync and analog display) isn't available anywhere else in the market at any price. With a few minor adjustments, Citizen could have a real classic on its hands.

Another note - watch the Amazon price. It fluctuates quite a bit. I purchased mine in November for about 30% less than the current price. Wait until the price is back down around $400 and you can get the sapphire installed with the difference!

I just got mine the other day. I own four other Citizen Eco-drive models. They've all been trouble-free and continue to function to this day. The oldest is an 8-year old titaniam diver model. I wanted this new Citizen because it's all black and it's atomic clock accurate. This is a huge watch, but seems to sit well on my smaller wrist. Resizing the band was a bit of a pain as the pins are rather hard to push out. Also, the band is not very flexible, so it doesn't fit as well on a smaller wrist. The one thing that really stood out to me was that the clasp on this watch is of much lower quality than my older citizens with metal bands. This one is made of stamped stainless steel. All my other Citizens have clasps made of thicker solid steel. The watch case itself is solid steel and appears very solid. However, the back is snap-on...eek! Citizen has really gone cheap here. I'd expect that a watch at this price level to have a screw-in back...not a snap-on like a Timex! All my previous Citizen's had screw-in backs. I know that the Japan-only titanium version of this watch has a screw-in back and a solid titanium clasp. This watch is coated black and only time will tell how durable it is. I suspect that eventually the black on the clasp will start wearing off since that's usually where most of the rubbing takes place. The crystal is made of mineral glass and is slightly domed, so at certain angles, you will get reflections. Overall, I love this watch because it looks great and is super accurate. I just wish that Citizen didn't cut down on the quality of the clasp and back to save a few bucks. One other annoying thing is that to access the various functions of the watch (calendar, countdown, chronograph etc), you have to pull out the crown and rotate it. A bit annoying if you use the functions a lot.

Pros:
- very nice looking watch
- fit and finish are top-notch
- bracelet is made from solid links. Not cheap folded metal.
- 200m water resistant
- bezel rotates smoothly
- picks up atomic clock signal in Japan, Europe and North America
- LCD display is backlit, so you can see it at night at the press of a button.
- Eco-drive a proven and reliable technology

Cons:
- cheap clasp
- snap-on back
- metal band not very flexible so if you have a small wrist, you might have large gaps on the sides of the wrist.
- black coating is not protected, so it will eventually wear off.
- crystal prone to reflections

This is a great watch but only reason I am giving it 4 instead of 5 stars is mostly because the band is very very stiff. I figured that after some use and flexing the band that it would loosen up but no its just as stiff as when I got it.

The positives of this watch are:
The band does not grab my arm hair. I have others that I paid more for that will pull the hair off my arm.
Atomic time sync. It is great being able to look at my watch and not have to wonder if I forgot to reset it for daylight savings or not.
Everything my job does is in eastern time and I live in central time so I will set the analog for central and the digital for eastern.

Some of the negatives are:
The very stiff band.
The light on this watch is not that bright and makes the digital part of it to see allot of the time, as well the hands on it the luminescence is not that bright either. So in dark areas this watch can be near useless. I have seen better and have paid more for worse, but one would think for this watch being over $500 that it would not have this issue.

What would had made this a perfect watch:
Better back lighting. I have one watch that when I press the light button it will light up the digital and analog hands as well.
Loosen up the band.

I bought this watch because I wanted a more stylish replacement for my Casio. It had to meet two important criteria:
1. It had to set itself atomically
2. It had to be self-powered.
This Citizen watch does both those things, and looks great doing it. It feels incredibly solid, and consequently is a very heavy watch. You might want to go to a jewelry store and try one on. It works amazingly well, sets itself just as advertised, and fits well (with a bit of adjustment at the jewelry store). I've had it for a few days now and it has only a couple of problems:
1. If you're left-handed, as I am, you'll have to take it off to reach the main stem to adjust some settings. Fortunately, you rarely have to do this.
2. For some inexplicable reason, the date setting is tied to the second clock. So, if you live in, say, Los Angeles, and you set the second clock to, for instance, Tokyo, the date shown will match whatever day it is in Tokyo, which is usually tomorrow. If there's a way to change it, I haven't figured it out. So, I have to have both time zones set to the same zone in order to see the correct date.
Other than that, this is an amazing watch, and unless you only value something like a Rolecks as a status symbol, this will feel great on your wrist.

Pros:
- Looks fabulous
- Sets itself
- solar powered
- a lot of dials look impressive
- a slide rule bezel
- battery gauge
- atomic sync in USA, Europe and Japan
- Incredibly solid feel

Cons:
- Not very lefty-friendly (but what watch is, really?)
- Date inexplicably connected to second clock

I presently own 7 Citizen Ecodrive watches. I have a variety of dive watches and dress watches. The Skyhawk is the latest and I love the atomic time reception, although the other Citizens don't seem to lose time. They are reliable, and very accurate. I also own upscale Rolex and Omega watches (automatics). My Citizens out perform these Chronographs? by a long shot.

Sporting a hardened, special ops look, the Citizen Black Eagle Skyhawk stainless steel men's flight watch offers advanced timing functions and the latest technology. It's powered by Citizen's unique Eco-Drive, which absorbs sunlight and any artificial light through the crystal and dial to recharge the watch continuously. The fast-forward timekeeping features include time and calendar in twenty-two time zones, thirty cities, three world time alarms, a 99-minute countdown timer, one-touch interchangeable analog/digital time, and 1/100-second chronograph that measures up to 24 hours.

The large round black ion-plated stainless steel case measures 44mm (1.73 inches) wide and 14mm (0.55 inches) deep, and it's topped by a bi-directional rotating slide rule. The black dial background features large white hands with luminous tips as well as luminous square dial markers. It's completed by a black-plated stainless steel bracelet band. Other features include water resistance to 330 feet (100 meters) and a scratch-resistant, non-reflective mineral crystal.

Summary of Features:

• Time and calendar in 22 time zones (30 cities)
• Three world time alarms
• 1/100 second chronograph measures up to 24 hours of elapsed time
• 99 minute countdown timer
• One-touch interchangeable analog/digital times
• Rotating slide rule bezel
• Screw-back case

I am about to send this watch back for the third time in about 2 years. 1st time, watch would not zerorize (digital time constantly off analog time). Second time analog hands wouldn't even match up to zerorize, came back with new chip but lower mode dial not quite centering. Then the mode dial fell off a few months later, so now it's on it's third trip back. Not sure if I would invest in the steel clasp -- pins seem to have bent a bit and the black wears off the casing.
I am a professional pilot and bought this watch to wear everyday, but I don't think it's durable enough to be worn by actual pilots.

Price on the watch is fair. Delivery is very good. The watch itself is nice however, after wearing the watch for a couple of days the plating on the band comes off and look cheap. A watch priced at that level should not have that kind of problem - disapointing.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000EQU0Y6/ref=cm_cr_rev_prod_title

This watch was pretty budget friendly considering its brand and capabilities. I am not a pilot so all the functions are just for looks. (At least if a real pilot saw my watch, I would hope they would be impressed.) The first thing I noticed was that the watch came without any plastic coverings. My first suspicion was that it was not a new watch. Perhaps it could have been worn/owned prior. From my research, the watch does not scrape on the glass nor the links so my first suspicion still can be true! Still, I decided to keep it. Setting the time was a bit confusing. Although I set it to my time zone, for some reason, daylight savings did not automatically adjust. I do plan to travel. Perhaps I will get use to it by then. The last thing I had to do was to size the links. I debated going to a fancy jewelry store or just a mall cart to do the job. The man at the mall cart did the job just fine. It fits now, tells the correct time, and was affordable for my first what I would call, an expensive watch.

I love this watch. Great features and the quality appears to be first class. It looks more expensive than it actually is. I have many watches and most with so many things on the face are difficult to read in low light but the contrast on this watch is great. The GMT and slide rule is perfect for us pilots. It is a large and heavy watch but is very comfortable and never having to change a battery makes it worth it.
I gave it a four out of five for some very minor problems. The crown is difficult to pull out without taking it off and when it is turned there is a little "tick" feel rather than a satisfying "click" you would expect from a watch of this quality. Secondly, the volume of the alarm is a little low making it hard to hear anywhere except a quite room. This might be attributed to many hours behind the prop.
Even knowing this I would purchase this watch again without question.

This is a great watch. Its got a seizable heft to it and feels high quality. It looks great and has plenty of features. I only have two problems with it. First, the LED screens are hard to see (the newer skyhawks with atomic timing have backlight screens). The second problem is that the watch is very painful to wear, as it plucks out arm hairs between the watch links as it moves around your wrist. I have not had this problem with watched that lack interlocking links (the kind that have a band that will go flat, and not hold an oval shape, when placed on the band). For this reason alone, I give it a 4 out of 5. But buy it if you don't have arm hair.

The new, fully loaded 3rd generation Skyhawk redefines atomic timekeeping with radio controlled accuracy and Eco-Drive technology. Radio signals are received both automatically and on-demand by the fully loaded Skyhawk A-T. Watch features include Atomic Timekeeping with Radio Accuracy, Citizen's patented Eco-Drive Technology (Solar Powered so you never have to change a battery), World Time for 43 Cities, 2 Alarms, 24 Hour 1/100 Second Chronograph, Perpetual Calendar to the year 2100, Analog/Digital Displays, 99 Minute Countdown Timer with Alarm, Water Resistant to 200 Meters (660 Feet), 3-Day Low Charge Warning (Will notify you 3 Days before the watch completely stops), 180 Day Power Reserve when Fully Charged (Approximately 2.5 Years with Power Save Function - 150 Hours to fully charge in average lighting), Power Save Function, Power Reserve Indicator, comes with a Titanium Case and Bracelet, and a Fold-Over Clasp with Double Hidden Push Button Release.

Summary of Features:

• Atomic timekeeping with radio-controlled accuracy
• World time in 43 cities
• 2 alarms
• 1/100 second chronograph that measures up to 24 hours
• 99 minute countdown timer
• Perpetual calendar
• Digital display light
• Greenwich Mean Time display
• Rotating slide-rule bezel
• Non-reflective mineral crystal
• Power-reserve indicator

I ordered a Skyhawk AT Titanium and when I opened the box it looked like it had been opened before. The outer box was bent and scuffed up and you could tell that the manual and other paperwork had been used before.

The watch was clean so I figured I would keep it. I soon found out why someone had returned it the first time. The watch was intemittent on some of its functions, esp when trying to get the time from the Time Server in Denver. At first it would not read the signal, I called Citizen ( great tech support ) and they had me do a complete reset on the watch. Things seemed to be better for a day and then lost the signal again. After doing another reset and ZERO HANDS setup, it worked again for a few hours then stopped.

I returned the watch to Amazon with no problems at all. Unfortunatly, the watch is out of stock so they could not replace it.

I would buy another one when it becomes available.

I gave this watch a "3" because it was shipped to me used but Amazon I give a "5" for their return policy.

The GOOD: If you need dual time zone watch this is it. I do deal with India all the time and that is challenge with nearly any other watch. India is 9 1/2 hours yes it is one of the few countries that is a 30 minute offset in time zone and does not change over to DST so then thats 10 1/2 hours just try keeping track of that and things fall apart. There is hardly any watch that will handle a half hour time zone except this one (even the old skyhawk didn't). This watch does that and more including alarms in different time zones so you can set the alarm in another time zone without doing a major compute for the local time. Two alarms so keep one on the local and the second on the world time if you wish. If you deal with London you get a third time zone the UTC sub dial and you can calculate most of Europe easily from that.
The watch is big and thick and in titanium weighs nothing its nearly as light as my kids Casio

The BAD: Contrast on the digital display is pretty bad.
The back light though present is not the best.
The hands cover the digital display a few times a day you can tilt and read under the hands but forget trying to set any function at 20 past the hour

The UGLY (loses one star for this): If you are going to use the second display for a world time zone there is no way to see the local calendar. Just to see the calendar you have to pull the crown 1 stop twist to change the mode and that will give you the calendar of the world zone So to have calendar functionality for local zone you have to set the world zone as your local zone (you lose an easy way to see the world zone). Simply put this watch can work as a dual zone watch or as a calendar watch not as both.

There are 2 nice press buttons one for the light (nice idea) and the other to indicate if the watch was able to sync with the atomic radio signal, it would have been much better if pressing that button would have flashed the local calendar on the display. Citizen could have easily put the atomic signal as an icon on the display. Citizen really dropped the ball on this one I nearly returned the watch due to the loss of calendar but I had got it during a price drop to $510 (Amazon not another vendor) and that sort of let me forget the day and date. Just keep in mind if you must have calendar and world time (besides UTC London) at the same time this watch does NOT do a good job. It does a great job for each (including perpetual calendar) but not both together

This is the ultimate watch: It's light (titanium), highly functional (I'll get to that in a moment), Eco-Drive (powered by the sun, no batteries necessary), radio-controlled (requires no adjustment) - so in other words, you can be a total dummy and not read the manual and the watch would still work properly - forever!

So yes, it has 2 alarms, chronograph, flight calculating bezel (no idea how to use that), world time, power reserve, date, 2nd time, am/pm indicator - the only thing that is missing is compass, thermometer, and barometer! Only problem is accessing these functions is not always easy or intuitive and it is pretty ugly. The band is a mix of brushed and shiny titanium. with a black face just littered with technical markings so more function less form.

I own this watch. Love it for all of the reasons in the other reviews. Only 2 issues... First, there is a loose particle under the crystal (called support and they said to send it in under warranty to remove the particle - OK, it happens). Second and worse (IMHO), there is a software issue with some U600 movements that cause the date to be incorrect after 28FEB10 (goes to 29FEB2016). You have to send the watch in for a software update. This is a known issue since at least Feb '08, yet mine has the issue and was sold to me in July '09. Why keep selling without ensuring the software is correct? Also, current posts by Citizen, in watch forums state incorrectly that watches with serial numbers starting with 8 or greater are unaffected. My watch serial number starts with 8 and IS affected. If seems pretty clear Citizen is unable or unwilling to clearly identify watches with issues, so be aware that you may need to send in this watch (on your own dime, unless you buy from good retailer) for software update. Great watch though...

Even though I'm not a pilot, I've always liked the Skyhawk/Navihawk titanium line of Citizen watches. My brother is a commercial pilot and has an older one. He loves it. They are just too cool. But I never liked the fact that they didn't have a backlight for the LCD displays. Well now they do! It has an amber backlight that works great. This watch is the new titanium version of the much heavier stainless steel JY0000-53E that came out last year.

Of course the weight of this watch is ridiculously light due to the Titanium construction. For such a big watch, I can hardly tell it's on. I can't stand a heavy watch bouncing on my arm. And be aware, this is definitely a big watch. But that seems to be the trend now (which I like).

The atomic time function works like a charm. I also like having world time at my fingertips. I have family members that live overseas, so it's nice to be able to check their local time at a glance.

It's great knowing I will never have to change batteries with this watch. The solar-powered "Eco-Drive" is an incredible feature that every watch company should have.

The watch has 2 alarms, world time zones (43 cities), solar power, atomic time, a countdown timer, a chronograph, a slide rule, UTC time, a 24 hour clock, ultra-light and nearly indestructable titanium construction, 200 meter waterproof, mineral glass, and it looks outstanding. What more could you want? I think it even does the dishes, bathrooms, and windows. But I haven't looked up those features yet in the 115 page manual (English portion).

One thing that's missing is a one-touch feature to bring all hands to the 12 o'clock position to clear the LCD displays during certain times of day. The hands occasionally obscure your attempts to read the LCD's. Another little gripe is you have to pull out and turn the crown to check the date. And it'll show you the date of your second time zone only. You have to do a couple more steps to get your home zone date if your second time zone is across the dateline from you. I think there's a way to set the LCD 2 to show the date all the time, but I haven't figured out how to do that yet. (Correction 4/1/08: I don't think there is any way you can get LCD 2 to show the date.)

Forget Rolex, Breitling, and Omega. They might look cool and have their high-falutin image, but they have nowhere near the functionality and practicality of this new Citizen. And they all cost about 10 times more. They are also much heavier.

Bottom line: It's virtually indestructable, ultralight, maintenance and adjustment free. I never have to set the time again nor will I ever have to change a battery or put it in a watch-winder (for automatics). I'm a big fan and proud owner of one of the coolest watches on the planet.

The Citizen Eco-Drive Eco-Drive Skyhawk Flight Chronograph is designed to soar with unbridled stealth precision. This men's Eco-Drive timepiece lifts off with time and calendar for 22 time zones, three world time alarms, 1/100 second chronograph that measures 24-hours, 99 Minute Countdown Timer, one-touch interchangeable analog/digital timing, rotating slide rule bezel, and power saver function all within a highly polished stainless steel case.

Summary of Features:

• Time and calendar in 22 time zones (30 cities)
• Three world time alarms
• 1/100 second chronograph measures up to 24 hours of elapsed time
• 99 minute countdown timer
• One-touch interchangeable analog/digital times
• Rotating slide rule bezel
• Screw-back case

Before I reveal its critical flaw, let me say I love the way the watch looks.

That said, the watch has no backlight!!! I cannot see the analog time at night and the digital display is completely unreadable even in dim light (have you ever seen an LCD display on a watch that didn't have a backlight?). Not having a backlight is an inexcusable flaw on a watch this price. And the phosporescent watch hands fade in about an hour, so that doesn't help much. Of course, you could just carry a flashlight with you.

Because of this flaw, I rarely wear the watch. I wear a cheaper Casio with a backlight that I do not like anywhere near as much.

If considering this watch against any other, just make sure you also consider how important it is to you to be able to read the time in the dark and to be able to read the digital LCD display when you don't have optimal light. If it is important, find a different watch.

I received this watch with a little flaw.The dial has a nick in it.Just a small flaw.I don't hope come again.

PROS:
- It is a Citizen!
- 5 year warranty
- very nice looking
- eco-drive system: never needs batteries
- complete world time (DST per zone, etc).

CONS:
- no light (but that is due to the eco-drive)
- no hourly alarm
- for me, its is difficult to pull out the crown without loosening the bracelet
- very easy to scratch (and they say the titanium version is even more soft!)

For an average male wrist, it is not too big nor too heavy.

I'm a private pilot working towards his instrument, commercial, and multi-engine certificates, and I love my watch. There are two gripes I have:

1) The band, even on the stainless, sucks. I'm not hard on my watch at all, and the forward side (I wear it on my left wrist) is full of wear marks and scratches from only resting on tables as I sit and read or do work. I'm pretty unhappy with that fact, and think that for a $[...] watch the band should be more scratch resistant. I haven't had this problem with other metal band watches.

2) There is no light. You wouldn't think it would take much to add two small LED's and an extra button for a light for night use. The "glow in the dark" hands stop working after a half hour-ish of darkness and you can't read anything without some light source. I haven't found this to be too much trouble for night flying since I have an overhead red light that I can hold the watch up to, but it's inconvenient and potentially hazardous since your taking your attention off of flying for that much longer. For a true aviator's watch you'd think they'd have thought this one through.

Gripes aside it's an excellent watch. I researched long and hard for a good aviators watch, and I settled on this one. While others may have better features (i.e. better looking, different layout, etc.) this one had the best of most of what I was looking for. I wanted something that I could use as my timer, a backup E6B, my zulu time (although I don't use it much and find myself doing the math in my head just as quick), my watch...and for future use if I become a professional pilot I can keep track of time with time zones. The Eco-drive is an excellent feature that although I haven't had it long enough to know how well it really works, in theory it is excellent for the environment, and for piece of mind knowing that you'll never need to worry about a dead watch at and inconvenient time. Also, the alarm clock feature is excellent. There are three separate alarms that are easy to set up, turn on and off, and use. I don't use that in the airplane, but I do use it for work and it is awesome; not too noisy, and not too quiet, but I doubt it's audible in the airplane. I don't think there's much more to say besides if you're looking for an inexpensive REAL aviator's watch this is about the cheapest you'll find, and it will have all the features and then some that you'd ever want.

Citizen, replace my band with something that doesn't scuff up so easy and this watch gets 5 stars from me.

It is a good watch with very nice features. I like it because I can adjust the time zone very quickly and still know the time in a home zone. I was worried it might be too big for my wrist, but it fits fine.

I bought from Amazon and got it from a company in South Texas. However, there were a few problems. I think it must have sat on the shelf for awhile before sale. The button would stick for awhile, it doesn't anymore. Also, the "On" symbol (for alarms) looks more like "Ox". This might be a rebuild or a factory second. Still I like it alot.